"We can't afford that!" "It's too expensive!" I hear it over and over again when discussing Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) with clients.
In fact some of my best clients had the exact same reaction when we first talked about LTCI.
The fact is most people can afford LTCI.
What they can't afford is the alternative and that is paying for the long term care they need out of their own pocket! Before we get into the numbers lets first take a minute to review what this type of extended care actually is.
Long term care is any number of services designed to meet the health and personal needs of an individual over an extended period of term.
Most of this type of care is in the form of non-skilled care which provides assistance in performing the Activities of Daily Living, which are: bathing, eating, dressing, toileting and transferring.
Now for the numbers.
I've never been one to recite statistics but I need to give you a sense of just how expensive long term care is.
Costs vary greatly depending upon the type and amount of care you need and the provider you use.
In Central Florida the average cost for the different levels of care are:

• Private Room at Nursing Home: $207 per day(1)
• Semi-Private Room at Nursing Home: $187 per day(1)
• Assisted Living Facility: $2,726 per month(1)
• Home Health Aide: $18 per hour(1)
• Homemaker Services: $17 per hour(1)
• Adult Day Services: $57 per day(1)

One year of home care, assuming the periodic need of a home health aide, would cost nearly $18,000 a year! Your potential yearly outlay for a private room at a nursing facility would cost $76,000! Combine this with an average need for long term care of 2 ½ years and the total potential outlay would be $45,000 for home care and $190,000 for a nursing home! And that is in today's dollars.
Ten, twenty and thirty years from now these costs will be even higher.
Assuming a conservative 3% average annual increase, in 30 years these numbers will balloon to $275,000 and $460,000! The bottom line, this type of extended care is incredibly expensive and will only get more so as time goes on.
So when folks tell me how expensive LTCI is I tell them to consider the alternative.
What is more expensive, a $2,300 annual premium for a comprehensive LTCI policy or a $76,000 bill from the nursing home? And for those who think they will never need long term care...
think again.
By some estimates, the chances of an individual needing this type of care are as high as 70 percent.
Of those, 40 percent will need care in a nursing home.
In today's environment, not having LTCI is not an option! Contact your local long term care specialist today to structure an LTCI policy to meet your needs.
(1) 2008 Cost of Care Survey, Genworth Financial, March 2008.